Ben Eagle

Rewilding: to subsidise or not to subsidise?

I have recently been having a number of conversations with others relating to the need to engage farmers and landowners with the rewilding debate. The rewilding campaign has, perhaps predictably, been led from within the conservation movement itself and has perhaps sidelined and isolated many of those who actually manage the majority of land -ContinueContinue reading “Rewilding: to subsidise or not to subsidise?”

Longplayer 2013: Reflections from Richard Mabey and Richard Holloway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gE7qasjEOs From the intricacies of bird song to the pulsations of the amoeba and the long calls of the humpback whale, nature writer Richard Mabey joins Richard Holloway in this, the 2013 Longplayer conversation to explore a whole host of issues straddling the lines and connections between nature, philosophy, morality, science, literature and music. IfContinueContinue reading “Longplayer 2013: Reflections from Richard Mabey and Richard Holloway”

The Charter for Trees, Woods and People

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-47n2Fg5IU The Woodland Trust along with 48 other organisations are calling for a new national charter for trees to be signed in 2017, the 800th anniversary of the Charter of the Forest, signed in 1217 by Henry III. Due to be launched in November 2017, the charter will be created using the shared memories, storiesContinueContinue reading “The Charter for Trees, Woods and People”

The Age of the Internet

Today I returned to the Cotswolds after a wonderful few days staying with my family in Essex. I would have stayed for slightly longer had it been for one thing – ability to access the internet. My family has been offline for over two weeks due to a fault with the phone line which isContinueContinue reading “The Age of the Internet”

How Successful has Environmental Stewardship been in improving the state of nature on Farmland?

On 1st January this year the ‘Countryside Stewardship Scheme’ (CSS) came into force across England as the new environmental management scheme for improving the state of nature on our farms across the nation. Despite its name it is very different to the previous ‘countryside stewardship scheme’ which closed in 2004 (the people at Defra couldContinueContinue reading “How Successful has Environmental Stewardship been in improving the state of nature on Farmland?”